Black Files
by Anonymaes
Summary: A religious organization, a top-level military project, and a mysterious new kid in school. The boy named Naruto Uzumaki was certainly someone who sparked questions everywhere he went. But how does this all fit together in the grand scheme of things, and how was any of this justified? Reposted/Edited; AU, slight sci-fi, ItaSaku, NaruHina, slight NaruSaku.
1. Phase Two & A Revival

_**1. Phase Two & A Revival**_

When the subject's foot collided with his face, Itachi Uchiha wasn't all too sure what to expect. All of his expectations since being put into this room had been wrong, and it was entirely disappointing. Bureau training had him pegged as the best of the best at hand-to-hand, yet here was this seventeen year old boy kicking the lights out of him in one, unforeseeable move. Odd. Itachi knew his abilities. He could often predict how his opponents would move through their ticks and shifts. But the boy seemed to have changed since the first time they had done this, which had only been a few weeks ago. _Maybe Kisame timed it,_ Itachi thought as pain shot through the rest of his body.

"_That's enough, Alpha." _

"Sir!"

Itachi had hit the ground, though he could only remember being kicked in the face. His skull throbbed. A pair of rough hands picked him up, pulling him up against the wall, pushing a bottle of water against his lips. Itachi's vision was blurry when he looked to see who it was. Kisame grinned at him, his teeth looking sharp in the lighting.

"That's gonna leave a mark."

"Yeah."

"_Someone escort Alpha out of the room for an examination." _

"I think you guys should check out Itachi here first," Kisame shouted at the one-way glass behind the test subject, who stiffened.

The only door in the room hissed as it slid open, a pair of scientists walking in. Dr. Herald and Dr. Fraises stood on either side of the subject, poking and prodding. "Dr. Nguyen, did you note that the subject's speed has greatly increased?"

"_Yes, along with his strength and reaction time, especially compared to pre-Hercules (control) data, and even compared to the previous four tests after the treatment." _

When Itachi was finished with his bottle of water, Kisame pulled him up. "So, you wanna get some Chinese tonight? My treat."

"_Ah, yes, officers, you may leave for the day. Make sure you do check to see that your coverage is here." _

"Yeah, yeah, scrubs, we know the drill," Kisame scowled as he and Itachi headed out of the room. How many scientists were behind the big one-way glass? Itachi rubbed his jaw. Hopefully not too many of them, Itachi wasn't all too sure if his ego could take it. From what Itachi knew, however, a good portion of scientists had been tacked onto the military's latest top-secret project. There could have been a chance that quite a large group of them had seen Itachi's loss. His entire head was surprisingly intact, despite the force of the hit he had taken. It only took one hit from that boy to end their session, and only now did Itachi start to feel embarrassed. The time it had taken for the subject to take him down blew all of Itachi's Bureau records out of the water.

Kisame and Itachi were silent as they quickly moved through the usual motions of checking out of the compound. They made sure another pair of officers had checked in to relieve them of duty. (Itachi silently hoped that one of them, a detestable man named James Hart, would also have the snot beaten out of him by a kid as part of his 'duty' for the night.) They were debriefed by the on-shift CO, changed out of their uniform, and they passed through all the checkpoints on their way out.

Once they were finally out of the military base, Kisame stepped on the gas pedal with a chuckle, as if finally sure that no one from the military could hear them. "You should've seen the look on your face when that idiot kid kicked you! Haha!"

"I suppose that this is a success, then," Itachi pulled out a small, black flip-phone—the Bureau phone, eyeing the time glowing on the small square screen on the front. _12:45AM. _"The military's Project Hercules is a success."

"Nope. Check out what I managed to snatch when no one was looking." Kisame nodded at the back seat of the car.

"You idiot. They could've seen those files just sitting in the _back seat of your car_."

"Well, they didn't, did they?"

Itachi grabbed the files uncovered in the back seat, his eyes narrowed. "Don't ever do that again or you'll blow our cover."

"Hey, I'd have a good excuse. Someone dropped it and I just forgot to give it back," Kisame grinned. "Anyway, read what's in there. It's details about more experiments. Apparently, they're going to put more shit into the kid, then test him out on the field someday. But not before seeing if he can 'function in normal civilian society' first. Dunno why, but it's pretty riveting stuff." There it all was, word for word. There were supposed to be different phases, with Phase One being completed once the physical aptitude testing and a shooting test was done. After a few medical examinations and a few more shots of what was called the Hercules-serum, they would take the boy to an undisclosed location with a "small civilian population" to test out the effects of the Hercules-serum on his mental, emotional, and social capabilities.

Or, rather, to "demonstrate any effect on the subject's neurological state by the Hercules-serum" upon a "small, enclosed social environment that encourages stimulation".

But there was more. In the very back of the file, it seemed, there were some decisions made, and the location of where "Phase Two" would occur had been chosen. "'…_Phase Two testing should be completed within a few months of close observation, and the environment in which Phase Two will be carried out has been chosen to be a boarding school in Maine, near a small town called Promise_. _Risk assessment: there is a chance that the Hercules-serum could, in fact, cause damage to the subject's neurological systems, causing a regress in his mental, emotional, and social capabilities._' Or, in other words: the kid could go crazy." This somehow reminded Itachi of the Hulk, though he imagined that if the boy were to 'regress', it wouldn't be a temporary condition. "As if this whole thing isn't already bad enough," Itachi said quietly as Kisame pulled out a cigarette. "Not while I'm in here, please. I've told you this many times."

"Geesh, sorry, I'll open the windows."

Itachi looked out at the forest going by them in a blur, finding himself wondering exactly how it was that any of these people slept at night. Maybe it was the Bureau-morals in him talking. Or maybe it was the fact that the military was willing to put the lives of civilians at risk for this whole thing. Not that Itachi—or, even, the Bureau could really do much about it. The Bureau and the Military may have played an endless game of technological espionage _against_ each other, but the Military was most definitely above the law. There would be no one who would, or even _could_ prosecute them. Itachi even doubted the President himself would really care much about this situation, seeing as he liked to bomb pretty much anyone he thought would be a threat to the country's bank account.

"So, do you think we should turn in now and go back to the Bureau? I think this is all the information we need," Kisame asked as they finally entered the city limits. "Now we know what new little toys the Military's come up with, and I doubt Angelos is gonna want us to steal any of that Hercules-shit."

"Let me make the call."

…

If there was something that Sakura Haruno was known for, it was her overall strength. Despite being small and slim, she was surprisingly muscular, though it only showed when she made leaps. Strawberry-blond hair seeming pink in the sunset's orange light, green eyes narrowed as she concentrated on getting her form as aligned and balanced as possible. Her feet needed to be more curved, even against the stiffness of her new pointe shoes. Sakura's knees needed to be even straighter, yet still lithe enough to make her landing soft. She hated it when if she didn't land silently, and she was sure people would notice the thudding, no matter how dull. It would scream "look how fat I am!" to everyone around her, and that wouldn't do for Sakura Haruno. At seventeen, she was a hundred-something pounds, not even a hundred and ten, and she wanted to keep it that way, and she certainly didn't want anyone else to think she was much bigger than she actually was because she couldn't land silently.

Still, she was the only one in the practice room that she knew. Classes were over with, and as usual, Sakura sacrificed girlfriend-time for practicing. Auditions were coming up far too soon, and Sakura didn't want to disappoint anyone. She was aiming forthe New York Ballet, and if she didn't get it this year, on her first try, Sakura had already decided she would quite dance entirely.

Leap. Pirouette. Butterfly. Turn, spot, turn. Jeté, step, jeté. Turn, spot, turn…the music didn't even seem to come to her ears anymore. Sakura only cared about the choreography, courtesy of herself. There wouldn't be any of the ridiculous interpretive improvising Sakura always saw on TV. There would only be correct grace, powerful concentration. There would be nothing less than absolutely flawlessness. Even if Sakura had to practice every day until auditions (which were, admittedly, in May, which was at least another six months away), Sakura was going to get this right. There were no alternatives.

Blue eyes peered through the glass, totally engrossed at the shadowed form eclipsing the sunset behind her. As the song came to the end, the dancer made one last leap. But while she was in the air, she faced the entrance to the practice room and saw a face in the small square glass at the top of the door and gasped, missing her landing. She landed on her backside, glaring up at the face. With a start, the face disappeared in a yellow blur.

Cursing, Sakura shot up, ignoring the new throbbing pain of her ankle. She probably twisted it, but when had that ever deterred her?

"Hey!" Sakura's voice thundered. She quickly hobbled down to the door, opening it and running out and down the hallway. "GET BACK HERE!" A blond-haired young man halted at the end of the hallway at the sound of her footsteps, light taps of her pointe shoes. His face was unrecognizable, but he wore a St. Augustus's uniform. Clearly he was new, because St. Augustus boys almost never strayed this far into St. Magdalene's territory.

"S-Sorry. I got lost."

Sakura's nostrils flared as she slowed down, huffing. "Look, I don't care if I have an audience or not, but I'd appreciate you not being a total _creep_ about it."

"Sorry." The boy scratched his head, his smile wide but unsure. Girls sure were scary.

"You do realize you're in the all-girls school right now, right?"

"Uh… I am?"

"Can you read signs?"

"Oh. Uh. I wasn't really looking."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I can tell you're new here." She paused, looking at the boy up and down. "But you're wearing the boys' senior jacket. I didn't think we took in older kids like that."

"Boarding schools have those kinds of rules?"

Sakura sighed. "Kinda, sorta. Anyway. Just…don't be a creep next time. Let me show you out, okay? And learn how to read." Sakura nodded behind her, and the boy hesitantly took a few steps in her direction. "I won't bite much, I promise. I just don't like being distracted."

"You did an amazing job though," the boy blurted. "I-I mean. With what I saw."

He earned a small smile from Sakura. "Thanks. I've been working pretty hard, but I didn't make that last landing thanks to you. I think I must've hurt my ankle." The boy's heart skipped a beat.

"Oh, god, I'm so sorry—

"No, no. I've done this tons of times, I probably just strained my muscle or something. I'll be fine." Sakura stopped for a moment, wincing as she rolled her ankle. "Yep. That definitely hurts. Anyway, I'm Sakura Haruno. What's your name?"

"Naruto Uzumaki."

"Nice to meet you under such an odd circumstance, Mr. Naruto-Creep." Sakura laughed. "It's pretty late into first semester, and I've never seen you around. Was today your first day?"

"Yeah, I just got in last night, but I think I missed most of my classes this morning cuz I didn't set an alarm."

"Oh, crap. Well, hopefully they let you off. No teacher on either campus tolerates that kind of thing, even with a good excuse," Sakura said, noting that the boy had a small red tint on his cheeks. "You okay? Your face is a little red."

"Ah—oh, uh, yeah, you're just…is that what you usually wear when you're practicing?" Sakura looked down. She only wore her black leotard and her tiny gray shorts. "Oh, yeah, sorry. It's a little revealing, but hey, at least I'm wearing tights."

"Oh, I can't tell."

"…yeah, they're skin-tone." Suddenly, Sakura's own face was heating up. Hopefully there were no stretch-marks or cellulite on her ass or on the back of her thighs. That would be more than embarrassing. "Were you looking for something in particular? I mean, most normal people—assuming you are normal—don't just wander around campus. Everyone's actually either out or at dinner." Naruto chuckled, looking away.

"I was looking for the counselor's office, to talk about my classes and to possibly get a map."

"Ah."

Finally, they were at the door marked "Door To St. Augustus". "Just go through the bridge-way, then make a right. The counselor might not be there, but at least you'll know where it is," Sakura said with a smile.

"Thanks a lot, Sakura."

"No worries. Just don't be a total creeper next time I see you, okay?"

Naruto nodded, pushing through the door. With a wave, he grinned and pushed through the door to his school, and Sakura rolled her shoulders, then her neck.

Back to practice

…

With the sign of the cross, Itachi knelt down before the statue of Mary.

"Who would've thought that Mr. Perfect was also a practicing Catholic, yeah?" Itachi didn't let the voice of his fellow agent interrupt his prayer, though he certainly had the urge to punch the man. It had only been a few days since he had gotten back now, and already, the Bureau was dragging him back in for another case. That was the only reason other Bureau agents would seek another out, anyway. Rarely, even with his own partner, did agents really do anything non-Bureau related together.

With a nod at the statue, Itachi stood up. "What is it now?" He faced his co-worker, who pouted.

"Aww, no, 'Hi, nice to see you again, it's been a while! I heard you got a new girlfriend'? That's mean, yeah."

"What is it, Deidara?" Itachi's tone was impatient.

With a sigh, Deidara held out an all too familiar black file.

"Pein's putting you back on the Family case."

Itachi stared at the black file, noting that they had yet to change the label on it. They were using the same folder as the one he had used years ago, evidenced by Itachi's own handwriting on the cover. Deidara was surprised to see a small smirk on Itachi's face.

"I wasn't aware I had been 'taken off' in the first place. I was told that the case was cold and they weren't going to touch it for a while."

Itachi took the folder from Deidara's hands after Deidara pushed it closer to him. "Whatever it is, Pein says to talk to him ASAP, yeah. You're gonna need to be briefed privately, since it looks like you're gonna be the only one working on this one."

Itachi let out a small chuckle. "I see. And they think I can handle this all by myself."

"I don't know, man, okay? I thought it was weird, yeah, but Pein was pretty pushy about it."

Itachi wondered what it was that brought this back to surface. Was there a new lead? Did the Family murder someone else this time? He headed out the door, Deidara following him closely. Once outside, Itachi opened the folder. The first thing he saw was a blurred picture of a red-haired woman, her head turned away from the camera. _The Matriarch. _ Behind it were reports, and likely the photos taken at the scenes of the Jensen, the Brian, and the Uchiha murders.

"You know, you can say no."

The blond man had an odd expression on his face, one that Itachi couldn't quite decipher. "I wasn't aware I could refuse my own job." Deidara looked away despite Itachi's pathetic attempt at a joke.

"The last time, we didn't get anywhere with this case. Do you really think that we can get anywhere now?"

They were at Itachi's car. Deidara watched as Itachi got in, without saying a word.

"Failure is not an option for me," Itachi said quietly before closing the door. "Even if I have to start from scratch again. I'm going to take them down." With a slam of his door, Itachi started his car. Deidara took a few steps back.

It was the first case Itachi had ever worked on, and it took a whole year just to figure out who these people were in the first place. It took even longer to get any leads. Did Itachi really believe that there could be more to this?

Deidara sighed as Itachi drove off, running a hand through his blond hair.

"This is going to be a wreck."

…

Naruto eyed the "watch" on his wrist as he sat on the infirmary bed, Dr. Nguyen pulling out a small flashlight and a tongue depressant. Even though he was far away from the military base now, nothing much had changed in terms of the structure of his daily life. Just now, instead of training and testing and being shot up with various random chemicals, he had college-level courses and was surrounded by some of the best young minds in the entire country.

"Remember that you're _required_ to actually socialize, Naruto," Dr. Nguyen reminded the blond haired boy as he pressed his hand under his ribs. "Breathe."

"I'm actually making friends, thanks very much!" Naruto replied indignantly. "No thanks to you people, though. None of the 'new teachers' would really let me socialize during school hours."

Dr. Nguyen chuckled. "You know, this school is my alma mater. That's the standard for the classes here, from what I remember. "

"Right."

"So, I'm guessing then that you're enjoying this new place, though? With other kids your age and all."

"I'm not a _kid_."

With a smile, Dr. Nguyen put on his stethoscope. "Of course not."

These check-ups supposed to happen daily, at exactly seventeen-hundred hours, and would last for a total of thirty minutes. It was nothing but a standard physical examination, to make sure that the Hercules-serum wasn't messing with the boy's internal organs. Though the scientists were sure that it wouldn't, there was still a chance—however small—that absolutely anything could go wrong. Aside from the physicals, there was supposed to be a weekly psych-examination, although this week's didn't happen. According to Dr. Nguyen, it was to get the boy to settle in first.

"Do you have any idea what you're gonna do after this? It's the weekend. Are you going to go out with your new friends?" Dr. Nguyen had this tone, a borderline condescending but falsely sweet tone, whenever he spoke to Naruto. Perhaps it was from his years as a pediatrician, the way the man spoke, but whatever it was, it got under Naruto's skin. "You guys shouldn't have too much fun, I don't think you'd be able to handle it."

Naruto hated this guy.

Once he was done, Naruto put his clothes back on, Dr. Nguyen's back turned to him. The man was rambling on about something when he was younger, how much fun he had at this school. The blond could kick him in the ass, really, if he wanted to. He'd probably get into loads of trouble, but that honestly wasn't much to hold him back. Still, Naruto stayed silent, pretending to listen.

"…my favorite part about this school, though, was always how gorgeous the girls were. Even if they hated me."

Oh, wow, they hated _you_? Why on _earth_ would they hate _you_? Naruto felt a small smile on his lips.

"You agree? The girls here are the best in every way."

"I guess, yeah."

Pink hair popped into Naruto's head, and his cheeks began to burn as a familiar silhouette danced across his mind's eye.

When Naruto was finally released, he found himself once more wandering through the hallways of St. Magdalene's Athena building, where he first met Sakura. And once again, he was standing at the door of Mirror Room 1, staring in at the small dancer who stretched with ease on the floor. Despite the thickness of the walls, Naruto could feel the buzz of her music on the ground, the dull beat making the door shake slightly.

As if sensing his presence, Sakura looked up. At first, she rolled her eyes at him, but then she got up and headed to the door, unlocking it and opening it.

"Hey, I thought I told you to stay on your own side, Mr. Naruto-Creep." Sakura leaned against the doorframe, a small grin on her face. "Oh, well. I guess this means I don't have to text you. I was pretty much done, anyway. Give me a sec, okay?" Naruto nodded, trying to keep his eyes from traveling down her form. Sakura shuffled away, turning off the stereo and grabbing her things, quickly shoving on a thick green coat. Returning to Naruto, Sakura locked the door before leading Naruto away in the direction of the student quarters.

"You guys have any plans tonight?" Naruto asked, thinking about Dr. Nguyen all of a sudden.

"That's actually what I was going to talk to you about. Did you wanna go into town? Some of the local kids are apparently throwing a house party, but we're gonna hit up a bar before we go." Naruto frowned.

"A bar? How are you guys going to get in? We're not even twenty-one."

Sakura laughed aloud. "You're kidding. Don't you have a fake? Everyone here has one." Naruto stared at her, a bewildered look on his face.

"Isn't that illegal?" Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Who cares? Haha. Don't worry. They never check IDs anyway," Sakura grinned. "So, you wanna come along? C'mon, it'll be fun." Naruto shrugged.

"I-I guess." Something told him that this was a bad idea. Naruto knew the rules for Phase Two, as the scientists called it. He was supposed to try to 'immerse' himself in the civilian world through any means possible. Or, in Dr. Cato's words, "act as 'normal' as possible". Well, 'normal' teens sometimes went out to drink. And Naruto had been good this whole time. He was supposed to be subjected to daily exams, weekly psych-checks, blah, blah, blah, and he'd been committing. People would be monitoring him. Hell, they had already replaced all the teachers for his classes with soldiers posing as 'temporary substitutes'. Surely, though, this was only for school. Not _outside_ of school. Besides, if Naruto went out with his new friends, it would all be for science, and if anyone demanded an explanation, that would be it. For _science_ and stuff. Right. And it wasn't like Naruto was going to run off—where would he go?

Before he knew it, he was in the back seat of a car, crammed next to Sakura, some other guy who kept muttering about how 'troublesome' this all was, and a girl with violet eyes, who smiled at him shyly. Naruto couldn't quite catch the introductions that Sakura gave, although he had already met Ino and the driver, a guy named Kiba. In another blink of an eye, Kiba asked everyone if they wanted a smoke, and a joint was being passed around. This was far too much for Naruto to process. The girls smelled of different, strong perfumes, dressed in short skirts and high heels. Kiba already had a beer in hand, and he was _still_ driving.

Naruto had grown up on the base. He had grown up surrounded by soldiers, trained by some of the toughest men in the country. The other kids in his program were just like him—alone, scared, and totally clueless about the outside world. Sometimes they would huddle in the corner, looking through stolen magazines, fantasizing about civilian life. What it would be like to go to school, to actually have families, to graduate, to have a normal job. To be 'normal'.

Naruto coughed when he sucked in, a small part of the joint flying into the back of his throat. "Oh, shit." His heart was racing. "What is that?"

"Have you never smoked any? Like, ever?" Ino asked, wide eyed.

"Smoked what?" The car began to feel a bit odd, as if it was moving faster. Within moments, Naruto felt… _lighter_. The car reeked, but Naruto found it oddly nice.

"Pot?"

Sakura let out a small laugh. "I don't think he has. Where have you been all your life, under a rock?" She passed the joint to Hinata, who shook her head and returned it to Ino. The blond girl shrugged and turned back around to face the road, taking another hit.

"How about alcohol?" Kiba asked, looking at Naruto through the rear-view mirror as he took a swig from his can. "Ever had any?"

"No."

"No offense, you sound like a total _loser_," Shikamaru smirked. Ino glared at him, throwing a crumpled napkin she had picked up off the car floor at him. "Hey!"

"Look who's talking." Ino held out the joint towards Naruto, which he took without hesitation.

So, was this what he had been missing out on?

By the time they had gotten to the bar, the students were all over each other, laughing at the stupidity of the world around them. Even Naruto found himself lost in laughter, pointing out what fruits everyone reminded him of. And as if he had some knack for comedy, everyone guffawed as they sat down, ordering their drinks through wide grins and tears.

Red-eyed, Naruto almost missed a man, dressed in black sitting at the bar. Around the man's neck was a green scarf. His eyes oozed with hatred as he stared at him, which Naruto pointed out to his newfound friends.

"Check out that guy."

"Hey! Dude! Wanna sit with us?!" Ino called out. Sakura put both of her hands over her roommate's mouth, shushing her friend.

"Shut up, Pig!"

The man was a passing thought, and it didn't take long for him to be forgotten. As the first round of drinks came about, Naruto almost came to, wondering how they were all going to pay for this. The higher ups had given Naruto a small allowance, for anything that Naruto would 'need' for Phase Two, but like the idiot he was, he had forgotten his wallet in his room. But after a few more rounds, the group stumbled out of the bar, with Ino having treated everyone with her father's credit.

Naruto threw his arm around Sakura. Her hair smelled of weed and alcohol, and it was still only midnight. "So, where to now, folks? More adventures?"

"This is really your first time doing any of this stuff, isn't it?" Sakura asked. "I mean, you're completely gone right now."

"Huh? How so?"

A large black van pulled into the parking lot of the bar.

"Sweetie, you've only had, like, three shots of whisky and vodka, and you're already slurring."

Was there some sort of standard? Whatever it was, Naruto wanted to live up to it.

This was so much more fun than being a test subject.


	2. Break

_**2. Break**_

The fact that Sakura had actually gone out for the first time in literally a _year_ since she broke up with that French exchange student was something that Ino would not let go for an entire week.

"You've gotta do that again. That was SO much fun!"

"I'm not going to. You guys are so ridiculous. And waking up hungover when I had three papers to write for the next school day _was not fun_."

"But it was _so totally worth it_."

"Shut up, Ino, no it wasn't."

To be completely honest, it was a little fun. In reality, Sakura herself had never gotten a fake ID, only pretending that she did because everyone else around her did. And, also complying with reality, Sakura wasn't the kind of person to go out. She either practiced, did homework, and the most she did for fun was maybe surf her blog sites or watch action movies. Still, it didn't change the fact that Sakura was not looking forward to waking up five times to run into the bathroom to throw up, and be eyed with suspicion by their RA. Maybe it was exciting the first times that Sakura had done it, but in the end, it wasn't worth going out at night.

"C'mon. Naruto's coming out with us again tonight! I'm sure you two can _really_ get to know each other even better."

Sakura's face turned two shades redder. "Ino! Shut the fuck up!"

"I'll even let you have the room tonight."

"INO!"

The blond let out a small cackle as they ran into Hinata, who gave them both a small smile. "Are you coming out with us, too, Hinata?"

"Oh, no, I have too much to do tonight."

"C'mon, you can do it all tomorrow. You both are such bums! Have some frickin' fun for once, geez!"

"Sakura, are you okay? Your face is really red," Hinata asked, putting a hand on her friend's forehead.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine." Sakura turned away from her friends, looking out the windows on the east side of the hall.

The real reason she had gone out that night was mainly for Naruto. That day, the girls had gotten together for dinner and gossiped, as per protocol. But this time, everything seemed to surround the school's mysterious mid-year transfer student. Teachers had either disappeared without explanation or randomly 'retired' in all of his classes, only to be replaced with new (and according to some sources, very handsome) teachers. One class, which was in the Bullock building, was supposed to be entirely an all-girl's class, and not only did it get a new teacher, but Naruto was in it, too.

"Now that I think about it, Naruto was in all the classes that the new teachers were in," Hinata had said that day. "I had three classes with him this past week."

At first, Sakura surmised that the boy might have had some sort of secret learning disability. Maybe he needed specialist teachers for whatever condition he had, but then she remembered that she share a class with Naruto as well. The teacher changed, but the syllabus hadn't. If Naruto had a learning disability, surely the new teacher—a gray-haired man named Mr. Crow—wouldn't just sit there and let the students do whatever they wanted in class.

But that was the only theory that made sense so far. Unless aliens were taking over, there was no other rational reason that Sakura could think of other than Naruto having a disability.

Still, one would think that someone would tell the students, at least so Naruto wasn't misunderstood or be mistreated by his peers. Not that the students at either the boys' or the girls' school were particularly sinister, because they weren't. Competitive and sometimes catty, sure, but never cruel. Bullying was not tolerated on either campus. But, Sakura supposed, she wouldn't really know. It would entirely be possible that the reason no one was saying anything was because whatever condition Naruto had was pretty bad, and maybe he had been bullied in the past. Besides, she had known most of the kids at this school since she was a child—of course she would see most of them as docile. It wasn't a big school, after all. Almost everyone knew each other, even the foreign students.

Sakura spied the boy in question walking into the Minster building through the school's front courtyard, where the administration offices were. Why? The offices were closed today, and she was sure even the school counselors were already gone. "Hey, guys, I'll see you at dinner, okay?"

"All right, well, I'll be expecting that you change your mind about coming out tonight, missy—hey!" Ino frowned as her roommate ran off. "I hate it when she does that.

Honestly, it really bothered Sakura not knowing things.

Hinata noticed that Sakura had dropped her phone. "Oh! Sakura! Wait!" Without even saying anything to Ino, Hinata, too, ran off, much to her chagrin.

"You guys SUCK, you hear me!" Ino stomped off in the opposite direction her "best friends" went, wondering why on earth they easily ditched her.

When Sakura made it down the stairs, not a single soul was in the courtyard. It made sense. It was the beginning of November, and the frigid temperatures of New England had already begun to bring in threats of weekly snow-storms.

"Sakura! Wait up!" A familiar voice echoed from above. Sakura looked up the stairwell to see Hinata running down the stairs, a large red smartphone in her hand. "You dropped this!"

"Oh, hey! It must've fallen out of my pocket."

Hinata gasped as she handed Sakura her phone. "Where are you going, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Oh, I just thought I saw someone is all." Sakura said, staring at the large double doors to the Minster building. "Do you know if the infirmary's open?"

"Why, are you feeling sick? We're supposed to have a nurse on duty here at all times, just in case. I don't know if they're gonna be in the infirmary, though." Sakura's eyes narrowed as she saw a man come through the school's front gates, wearing a brown trenchcoat and a black hat. "Who's that?"

"I don't know. How cold do you think it is outside?"

"I think when I checked the temperature last, it was supposed to be below forty."

The man, a thin, short man with strong Vietnamese features, headed towards the Minster building. "Alright, well, you wanna cut through the courtyard with me to go to see if the nurse is in the infirmary?"

"O-okay," Hinata replied, wide-eyed confusion on her face. "Are you okay, Sakura?" The man entered the building. So the doors weren't locked. That was probably where Naruto was.

"I'm perfectly fine. Now c'mon."

…

Itachi wasn't all too sure what to make of this new information. It was far too much of a coincidence, especially with the all the information that the Bureau had about Project-Hercules.

Yet here he was, far up north, sitting in a small motel room re-reading all of the case notes and reports in the thick black file Deidara had handed him a week ago.

"They found a compound," Pein had told him when he was briefing him about the situation. "Right where the military wants to plant their new little toy for a few more experiments, there is a Family compound right in the middle of the forest."

Ironic, really. Especially for the military. You'd think that they would cover their bases better, but, Itachi supposed, soldiers were far more idiotic than everyone thought. Then again, it wasn't like they knew what the Bureau knew. It was far more likely that not a single soldier knew of the existence of the Family. But they lucked out with the fact that the Bureau had been keeping tabs on both the military and the Bureau's favorite militant extremists.

Itachi hadn't had time yet to really check out the compound. He had been far too busy going around the sleepy town, and he had only gotten in yesterday night. So far, the weather was absolutely horrendous, with a mixture of icy rain and hail on his first night, and a possible snowstorm coming in from the north for his second. Hopefully the weather would better in the next few days so Itachi could get out into the forest where the satellite maps found the Family compound, but he somehow doubted that would happen.

Mindlessly turning on the TV for some noise, Itachi began to examine the pictures in the file.

"…_it's an Asian INVASION in this country! There's so many of them! Japanese, Vietnamese, Chinese, all of the yellow-peoples from the East seem to be _migrating_ over here. It's more common, now, to hear some sort of Asian name instead of a normal name!" _

Click. No Fox News. Not that CNN was really any better.

The only new additions to the photo collection in the black file were a set of satellite images of the compound in the highest quality possible. According to the notes on the photos, the compound was on a five-acre plot of land just a few miles out, and the only way to get to it was by trekking northwest of the town on foot after a short drive down some dirt road. A more-than-doable feat for someone like Itachi, though not in this weather. If there was some off-switch to the snow-storm threats, however, Itachi would have gladly used it. Still, there was more to do than simply sniff out the Family compound. It was only about twenty miles away, and there was no doubt that whoever occupied this place would need things from this town, be it simple groceries (Itachi saw no garden, so it was safe to assume that the people were not necessarily self-sufficient) or gas for the cars parked around the compound in the photos. Even if Itachi couldn't go venturing out into the wilderness, he could certainly go around town.

And so he did, keeping the black file safely locked away in a safe he had in his own suitcase.

There was a seemingly permanent scent that hovered in the air of Promise, Maine. It was a mix of pine trees, some sort of mint, and a hint of rotting fish, though it wasn't all too unpleasant. A dull gray seemed to color even the brightest buildings in the town, reminding Itachi somewhat of those old noir mystery movies from the early ages of Hollywood. What few people were on the streets huddled with each other or kept to themselves, hands stuffed in pockets, mouths covered by scarves and thick coats. Certainly not the liveliest of populations.

Itachi found himself facing a small church, noting the upside-down, green triangle that gave off a small glow on the church's sign. "Church of Absolution", it was called. There was no specified denomination. Outside, two men stood on the steps leading up to the church's entrance, wearing black suits with the same, upside-down green triangle on the right breast pocket. When they saw Itachi, they smiled at him.

"Hello! Come to join the mass? It's about to start."

It couldn't hurt; Itachi simply nodded and followed the men inside the church. A service on a Friday—perhaps it was one of those daily mass-schedules.

Inside Absolution was certainly nothing like St. Matthew's, though it wasn't a Catholic church. The walls were plain cement and brick, with a few paintings of the Stations of the Cross all around. There was a meager wooden podium front and center of the church, though it didn't rise above everyone else on a platform. As Itachi walked in, however, he was surprised at how _full_ the seats were, for a daily mass. In the few times he had missed Sunday services, Itachi had gone to a weekday mass at St. Matthew's, and maybe a dozen people would be in the entire cathedral. Right now, in Absolution, there were at least thirty or forty people, with a handful of empty spots in the pews. The hushed tones in the air made everything feel oddly tight in the room, and when Itachi came in, he felt everyone's eyes fall upon him. The air felt even tighter then. The whispers in the room immediately ceased.

However, they stopped looing when a woman came before the crowd, seemingly coming out of nowhere. In perfect unison, all eyes—even Itachi's—were upon the woman. She was plump, old, with graying brown hair and thick glasses. With a clap, she lifted her head, everyone else following suit.

"TODAY, GOD HAS SPOKEN!"

Though Itachi was invited to sit anywhere he liked, he chose to stand in the back of the church, finding himself oddly fascinated by the scene before him.

"God has seen the wickedness that man has continued, that man has allowed to _grow_." The woman looked down and around the church, her eyes lingering when her gaze found the new face in the church. "You! Have you heard God's word?"

Itachi had the right mind to turn around to leave just then, but he found himself in a humorous mood. "No. I have not."

"Reach into your pocket. What's in there?"

Itachi pulled out his phone.

"And how often do you use that?"

"Every day.

"And how often do you go to church?"

"Once a week." Itachi could see where this was going long before the woman continued. His humor had disappeared just as quickly as it surfaced as the church leader continued to speak. Something about how the phone was draining away his love for God, how salvation moved farther and farther away because of how the world was so engrossed by technology. If one was the type to believe the lizard people wore masks and paraded around the world as political figureheads and leaders, then maybe you'd be able to follow along with the logic that the woman spewed and agree with it.

The minutes following the woman's rant dragged by, and the hour's end seemed too far away for Itachi. Still, something told him it would be worthwhile to stick around, and possibly look around afterwards. Be it instinct or intuition. And this wouldn't be the most unpleasant thing he'd done on a case.

Once the mass concluded with a declaration of war "against God's enemies" (here, meaning the Devil's tools, which was technology and science), Itachi found that he didn't really need to know much else of the church. He lost the urge to look around and instead turned around to head out the door. But the grip of a pistol peeking out of a nearby man's jacket caught Itachi's eye, its owner engrossed in a conversation about something with another man in a suit. These men were different from the men Itachi had seen outside, but they wore the same emblem on the right breast of their jacket.

"Ah. Newcomer. Welcome to Absolution. What brings you here, if I may ask?" Itachi faced the old woman behind him, who had an odd smile on her face. "I love seeing new faces at our gatherings. It's as if God himself has brought you here."

"I'm just visiting some friends in town, and I stopped by. I thought this was a Catholic church."

"We're nothing like those money-grabbing hypocrites," the old woman's smile melted into a growl, and she looked as if she was about to spit. "We here in Absolution are a _family_. And we take care of each other. God will only save the few who are truly faithful to Him, and that will be our family."

Itachi smiled a seemingly genuine smile.

"Tell me more about your family."

…

When Hinata was younger, she had a bit of an attachment to the old Nancy Drew books. From _The Secret of the Old Clock_ to _The Captive Witness_, no classic Nancy Drew book had been unread by the Hyuga heiress. In her childish youth, Hinata used to wish that she be just like Nancy Drew—beautiful, smart, and brave enough to take on any mystery, however dangerous, that reared its ugly head. But, no matter what, Hinata would never be anything more than Hinata Hyuga—quiet, with a bit of a stutter, always hovering behind everyone else.

Even now, with the opportunity of a mystery before her, Hinata cowered behind the strawberry-blonde-yet-seemingly-pink haired girl in front of her, afraid of what would happen if they were caught. Sakura assured her that they weren't really breaking any rules here. The door to the Minster building was unlocked, and if anyone asked, they had an excuse for being here, even though Sakura herself didn't tell Hinata explicitly that they were, in fact, stalking the new boy. It wasn't that hard to figure out. It was all Sakura wanted to talk about since Naruto had come to school, anyway, especially with all the other new faces popping up all over the school.

It wasn't just teachers being replaced. In the ten years that Hinata had attended St. Magdalene, the staff had always been the same, down to the lowly janitors. A new teacher always set the school abuzz, and rarely did teachers even need replacement or hiring here, or at the boys' school. Yet, in the past week alone, there were brand new janitors mopping up the floors constantly, new cooks in the cafeteria, even some new security guards. And familiar yet-often-unnoticed faces in the background were no longer there, disappearing just as mysteriously as the randomly retiring teachers.

Sakura wasn't the only one who was noticing things, and she wasn't the only curious one, either. Of the two of them, however, Sakura was the only one who actually wanted to act upon it.

At this point, Hinata was more of a _Bess_ than a _Nancy. _

"Where could they be? I mean, they both probably went to the same place, but where?" Hinata knew that 'they', as Sakura mumbled on, were the new boy and the man who had come onto campus. The two girls had checked the offices on the first floors, all of which were void of any living being, and had even gone up to the President's office on the second. All that was left were the classrooms here and there, and the infirmary on the third floor.

"Who had a the bright idea of putting the nurse's office on the third floor, anyway? I mean, if someone was injured or was sick, wouldn't it be a bit of a pain to make them go up all these stairs just to see the nurse?" Sakura muttered.

"There's always the elevators," Hinata chirped softly. "And besides, there's more privacy up here." Sakura thought for a few moments, then shrugged. This logic was sound. Hinata was always much more capable of thinking things out.

"You're right."

When the two reached the third floor, they heard a man's voice echoing down the hallway.

"…joined a sports team yet?"

"I'd have to try out." The other voice was definitely Naruto's. Hinata looked at Sakura, wide-eyed. The pink-haired girl pressed a finger on her lips, signaling her friend to shush. They must have stumbled upon something. "So, no, not yet."

"You're required to join one as a student of St. Augustus, you know."

"I remember the PE syllabus."

The girls inched closer to the infirmary, noting that the door was slightly ajar. Hinata craned her neck to see what was inside, and found herself staring right at the bare chest of the school's newest senior.

Were eighteen-year-old boys… usually _that_ muscular?

"Have you been working out, though? You seem to have gained some muscle weight."

"Just the usual stuff, though it's nothing compared to being at base."

"Ah. And do you have a new routine?"

"Just some weight lifting and some routine jogs around the track."

The girls couldn't see faces, but were both entranced by Naruto's oddly muscular arm, which had come into view. It wasn't overly muscular, much like his chest. He still seemed rather small. Still, the new boy's defined abs—defined _everywhere_, really—were certainly something to stare at.

There were a few moments of tensed silence as Naruto stayed where he was. A pair of hands appeared, long white sleeves covering the arms, as they pressed a stethoscope against Naruto's chest. "All right, well, again, you seem just fine, and there's not much change other than those muscles. Although, I am a bit surprised I didn't notice them yesterday." Naruto got up, and the girls looked away, hiding behind a corner. "Anyway. You know the drill. Same time tomorrow."

"Sir."

"And remember: try not to drink too much while you're here. I know you might want to have fun, but I don't think anyone really wants to find out what would happen if you mixed alcohol with the project." Hinata gave Sakura a pleading look, silently asking if they could leave now. Her heart was racing, although it wasn't out of fear of being caught.

Relenting, Sakura grabbed her friend's hand and they both silently darted away.

Once in the safety of her room, Sakura huffed, hugging her friend tightly. "Okay, so, that was pretty cool! But, you have to wonder, why is it exactly that Naruto needs a private doctor to come check up on him? Because that's who that guy is, right?"

"And from what it seems like, this might be a frequent occurrence. Maybe a few times a week."

"I can't believe no one's noticed this one yet." Sakura had this odd, satisfied grin on her face, like they had just discovered gold. "Do you have any ideas? I don't know if I've said this yet, but I'm thinking that Naruto might have some sort of weird condition, maybe a learning disability. But that wouldn't explain a physical examination—that's what that was, right?"

"Y-yes."

Pacing, Sakura scratched her elbow as Hinata sat down on Sakura's bed.

"Well, maybe it's something else. Do you think maybe it's some sort of disease?"

Hinata's heart sank. Her mind was going through the same thoughts as Sakura's, yet she saw that they were already looking at this in two different lights. How was this any of their business in the first place, and why would it matter? If Naruto was sick, be it mentally or physically, it would be up to him to tell everyone. It wasn't and shouldn't be Sakura's personal mission to figure it out by herself.

"Sakura…don't you think we should just forget about this for right now?"

Sakura stopped pacing. "Huh?"

"Um… i-it's just… I feel like we're really violating Naruto's privacy here. It's none of our business, whatever is going on with him. And he's only been here for, what, two weeks? Maybe we can just wait and see if he'll open up to us." Green eyes blinked rapidly, as if having discovered something totally unbelievable. "S-sorry… I just…I don't know."

Shoulder's slumping down, Sakura sighed. "You know, you're right. This is pretty wrong. I guess I'm getting a little bit carried away." Hinata gave Sakura a half-smile. "God, thanks for pointing it out Hinata. Really. Before I did anything stupider. I feel like such a _creep_ now. Did I really just _stalk_ Naruto?"

"Just a little."

The pink-haired girl threw herself onto her bed with a groan.

…

Naruto liked the idea of doing this every weekend, regardless of anything Dr. Nguyen said.

It was the exact same group from last week, much to his delight. Seeing the girls, especially Sakura, all dressed up, was truly the cherry on top. When they all got into the car, Naruto stole Kiba's beer, and Ino ended up getting everyone, save for Sakura and Hinata, their own little joint. Despite that, however, Sakura and Hinata sang along with everyone else when Kiba turned up the radio, and by the time they had gotten to the bar, everyone's throats were equally sore, even Shikamaru's. This time, Naruto got through six shots before they all headed out to the parking lot, asking Hinata to drive them to this week's party.

"It's just on the corner of Carlton and Marsh, we can't miss it—it's a big house!" Ino instructed as they headed to the car. She was the only one who noticed the three men with green scarves walking towards the group. "Hey, hey, hey, gentlemen! Wanna join us for this party?"

"Do you know who y'all are with right now?" One of them asked, voice muffled by the scarf in front of his mouth. A black van pulled up behind them, back doors opening up and revealing more men with green scarves.

"Ew, what are you guys, in a gang or something? C'mon guys, let's go—

There was a deafening pop. The earth seemed to stop spinning entirely.

Everyone watched in horror as Ino collapsed to the ground, clutching her stomach. A deep, red spot grew where her hand was.

Hinata let out a shrill scream before Sakura jumped to her roommate's side, heart pounding. The men with green scarves were now surrounding the students, all with guns drawn. Naruto's ears began to hum with a familiar sound, his head spinning as adrenaline began to pump through his veins.

"Come with us so we may cleanse you of the Devil's presence," one of the men shouted.

"What the hell are you fuckers talking about? You just _shot _her!" Sakura screamed back, hands shaking. "She could _die_! Shikamaru, call 911!"

"No! No phones! If any of you make a call," one of the men grabbed Hinata, who let out another scream. "She's going to be sent straight to hell."

"What the _fuck_ is wrong with you people?!" Sakura's eyes were filling with tears. Naruto gulped as he counted how many guns were being pointed at everyone. He had never been trained for a situation like this. He would act, but he didn't know how.

"Who are you?!" It was odd that there was no one else around. Hadn't anyone in the bar heard what had just happened?

One of them men motioned at Naruto with his gun. "You. Come with us, or the girl is done for."

"W-what?!"

"Shut up, Sakura." Naruto commanded, never once looking at her. Her eye twitched a bit. "I'm the reason you're all here?" _I thought that this whole thing was supposed to be "top-secret". _Naruto almost laughed, thinking about all the lengths everyone who had been involved in the project always reminded each other of this. In fact, at some point on the base, it had become somewhat of a joke. Funny, it really was pathetic how well kept this secret was.

"Our Family means to save your soul, boy. Come with us peacefully and this won't be so hard."

Naruto spied Ino, still bleeding, on the ground. Kiba was frozen against his car, his hand still in his pocket. Shikamaru was also next to Sakura, kneeling beside Ino, hands pressed against her stomach, black eyes darting back and forth between assailants and Naruto. Hinata silently sobbed as a gun was held against her skull. She gasped, shutting her eyes tightly.

Where the hell was anyone else in this town?

"Fine. Just leave everyone else alone. Okay?" Naruto raised his arms. "I'll go with you all."

"Naruto, what the _hell_ is going on?!" Sakura demanded.

"Sakura, _shut up."_ Naruto glared daggers at the girl. "Just trust me on this, okay?" Tears spilled from her green eyes as the men let go of Hinata, who collapsed onto the ground, shaking furiously. All of the men lowered their guns, grabbing Naruto's arms as they pulled him to the black van. Before they pushed him in, he saw that Kiba pulled out his phone and had already dialed 911, frantically _begging _for help. There was a bit of relief when he saw that, and a small voice in the back of his mind told him that the others—his _friends—_would be just fine.

When they pulled a black sack over Naruto's head, though, he wasn't all too sure if the same could be said bout him.


End file.
